


Fae Keep Their Promises

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: Bubbly [5]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Angst, Fae Gordon Freeman, Found Family, G-Man doesn't use pronouns, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more as I go, Memory Loss, Pronoun Rundown:, REAL TAGS NOW, and also uses ae/aers, bubby uses he/him xe/xem, coomer uses he/him it/it's, darnold alternated he/him and she/her depending on the day, forzen uses they/them and thon/thons, gordon uses he/him fae/faer, parent/child relationships, tommy uses he/him ve/ver
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28395315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: Gordon Freeman promised, as a young child, to come back for his family. A fae will always keep their promises, even if the promise they have to keep ends up far more than they had bargained for.
Relationships: Gordon Freeman & Bubby
Series: Bubbly [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019895
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. So. I'm doing this.

When Gordon walked into the facility, there was something that washed over him in that moment that made him realize something all at once. Familiarity, safety, something. It wasn’t safe, but it wasn’t unsafe. Gordon didn’t know how to explain it. 

Gordon slipped past everyone, oh so easily, a careful magic that permeated the place to field the questions away. 

When Benrey began to follow him, Gordon hoped, against hope, that Benrey remembered him, but there was no sign of it. Tommy reintroduced himself, Coomer seemed cordial but not familial, and what hurt the most was Bubbly. 

But it was fine. Gordon could handle it. Gordon could sabotage it all, drag the entire facility into hell if it meant he got his Bubbly back. 

And he did, the res cas shattered the fabric of reality around them all, and Gordon sat in the HEV suit and grinned, fire burning around him, wings thrumming a beat against his heart in hidden home, and Gordon couldn’t help but grin in triumph. 

He rounded the corner, and he saw Bubbly, and he couldn’t help but grin more, tear that helmet off and grin with those too sharp teeth, and watch the recognition slide across Bubbly’s eyes, the grin spread across xyr face, and Gordon launched and clung, shaking. 

He promised he would come back, and a fae never breaks their promises. 


	2. Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real chapter one baby!! Hello! Welcome to the Fae Gordon Freeman AU, Bubbly AU, whatever you may call it.   
> I am writing a real fic for this, rather than one shots.   
> Pointedly does not look at the demon au.   
> Hope you enjoy!

“Nice to see you again too, Bubbly.” 

And memories slammed back into Bubby’s mind. 

How xe could have forgotten xyr fae, xe didn’t know, but that didn’t matter anymore, because xe remembered, Bubby remembered that little child with the bright eyes grinning up at xem from the floor while xe sat in xyr tube, and Bubby grinned. 

“Bug...” 

“It’s... Gordon now, by the way.” Xyr fae, Gordon, smiled nervously, eyes darting around quietly. “I found a name I liked.” 

Bubby nodded slightly, staring in near silence towards Gordon, taking in everything about xyr child as xe could. 

Gordon’s eyes were just as bright as Bubby remembered, glowing in the low light of the broken facility. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, Bubby remembered that well, Gordon’s hair now dyed with streaks of green in it. For a moment, Gordon stared back, head tilted just a bit, almost like a curious puppy, before Bubby broke the silence by dragging Gordon forwards, wrapping xyr arms around him tight, clinging. Gordon made a soft noise of surprise, before wrapping his arms around Bubby in return, clinging onto him tightly. 

“I missed you.” A whispered confession into xyr neck, and Bubby smiled softly, squeezing him for just a moment before stepping back, hands still on his shoulders. 

“You kept your promise, bug. That’s more than I ever thought I’d get.” 

Gordon smiled slightly, wiping at his eyes quickly. “Fae keep their promises, no matter what.” 

“Do the other know? Benrey was following you around. Though, I have to admit, you put up a good show.” Bubby grinned, and Gordon let out a soft laugh, just barely an exhale of air, nodding slightly. 

“I did. I... I don’t think they know it’s me.” Gordon shrugged a shoulder. “But team trouble’ll be back up and together in no time.” 

Bubby groaned softly, but grinned anyways at the idea. “Don’t put those thoughts into my head, you three were monsters and you know it.” 

At that moment, Benrey rounded the corner down the hall. Gordon glanced back at the noise, one ear just barely twitched as he did, looking back to Benrey. 

Benrey had come back a few years before Gordon, but Bubby had noticed before that he tended to avoid him and Coomer. Tommy didn’t get the same treatment, which admittedly stung, but Bubby could understand it, since he and Coomer were the ones to send them away, and more... complex things, like the decisions that led to that moment, usually had escaped younger Benrey, and Benrey also tended to hold onto grudges for a good period of time. Bubby wasn’t really surprised by Benrey giving xem the cold shoulder. 

But Benrey... Bubby paused, thinking back to running into Benrey again as Benrey made a slow meander towards them down the hall. Gordon looked between him and Bubby, but Bubby found xemself in a hole of thought, frowning. 

Benrey had reintroduced himself. Bubby had shook it off before, but there was something odd about that, wasn’t there? Bubby would have recognized one of xyr child, had at first, but Benrey reintroduced himself and went about their day. 

Gordon looked back to Benrey, raising an eyebrow. “Hey.” 

“You talking about passports?” Benrey asked, looking to Gordon, and Bubby watched his face carefully, theories forming in xyr mind quickly. Bubby saw nothing. No recognition, just the general Benrey blank that Bubby had gotten used to seeing. Which. Okay, so Gordon looked different, he had grown, but they left together, they had to know each other. 

Gordon seemed to draw the same conclusion, but said nothing of it. “No, just. Catching up a bit.” He looked down the other hall, eyes darting around. “C’mon. Let’s go see if we can find someone else alive still.” 

Bubby looked to Gordon, their eyes meeting for a moment, both showing the same confusion, as Benrey grinned his sharp grin, and nodded, walking with the two of them. 

“Watch out there’s a creature!” Tommy’s voice came from down the hall, and Bubby jumped slightly, eyes darting first to the tall man down the hall, and then to where Tommy-when did he get a gun?- was pointing, to-

But Benrey had it covered, and Bubby jumped as Benrey did something, bright light arcing out around him and then settling. Gordon stared quietly, but said nothing. Bubby had never seen Benrey do something like that, but Gordon might’ve, since he ignored it, moving to Tommy, who, while rumpled and scared, seemed well enough. 

“Tommy, are you alright?” 

Tommy’s eyes turned to Gordon. “Mr. Freeman! I-I’m okay, just.” His eyes darted past to Benrey for a moment. “Shocked.” He murmured, turning back to Gordon, and Bubby saw the same unfortunate truth that xe had seen in Benrey’s eyes. 

Tommy didn’t remember Gordon. 

Gordon blinked, and nodded slightly, patting Tommy’s shoulder with a heavy hand, which barely moved Tommy at all. “Good. C’mon, let’s, let’s keep going. We gotta get out of here.” 

Ve nodded, and Gordon led the charge, Benrey following behind Gordon, shooting jabs towards him as they walked, Tommy following along, and Bubby the caboose, frowning quietly to xemself. 

They didn’t remember Gordon. Bubby did, why did Bubby if they didn’t? Better question, why didn’t they? They were raised with Gordon, they should have remembered the third person in their little band of troublemakers, but. Nothing. 

There was an idea in Bubby’s head, but he didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t believe it. There was one more person, one person that could break it or not and Bubby had to find him. 

Harold would know, wouldn’t he? 

Bubby huffed a sigh, ignoring the look Tommy sent back to xem, keeping focused on Gordon’s back as he shrugged off the jokes Benrey tried to make. 

“Dr. Coomer!” 

Xe moved forwards quickly, peeking into the room from around Gordon’s arm, seeing Harold, of course, the right one too, still in the control room, an arc of strange lightning from the main room arcing just barely past Harold’s hair, singing it, if Bubby’s sense of smell was correct. Harold just grinned at them. 

“Ah! Hello Gordon!” 

“Coomer, Coomer, step away from the panel-” Gordon’s eyes were panicked, and Bubby blinked, looking to Harold again, who was grinning slightly with no real sense of danger. Bubby narrowed xyr eyes at it, and Harold met xyr eyes, then took a careful step away from the panel, away from the arcing electricity mess. Good. 

“Thank you, Cooms.” Gordon let it slip, and Bubby tensed just slightly. Gordon’s nickname for xem triggered the memory, and Bubby looked to Harold again quickly, and-

Nothing. 

No renegotiation, no understanding, and Bubby’s hear sank. 

They didn’t remember Gordon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Do you guys hate me? Cause I understand if you do. <3

**Author's Note:**

> Most of this is gonna be from Bubby's POV, but I already did this scene from xyr pov so uwu.


End file.
